Hall of Famer Mike Piazza, arguably the greatest hitting catcher in baseball history, has decided not to stay involved with baseball during retirement like so many ex-players. Instead, he’s gotten into soccer, and is currently the majority owner of Reggiana, a third division club in Italy. Andrew Keh of the New York Times has the must-read story.
While talking to Keh about his soccer club and love of Italy, Piazza (inadvertently?) took a little shot at the city of St. Louis. From Keh’s story:
Noting that he had met with groups aiming for expansion franchises in Major League Soccer before buying Reggiana, he said: “I’d rather be poor in Italy than based in St. Louis. You can’t get a good meal there!”
Needless to say, Piazza’s comment hasn’t sat well with Cardinals fans and other folks from St. Louis. I don’t know if Piazza intended to throw out a random city and St. Louis was the first city that came to mind, but it doesn’t matter. The damage is done.
Rap artist Nelly, who is from St. Louis and is a huge Cardinals fan, bumped into Piazza late Monday night. He set the record straight about food in St. Louis. Check it out:
Caught red-handed. That comment was never going to go over well for Piazza, and I’m guessing he knew that the moment he said it. He’s already making amends:
Don’t mess with St. Louis, Mike.